Questions on Brookville 32 Roadster bodies.......

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I really do not care whose body someone uses..........just get one and get it on the road. I just love Roadstering.




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Yeah.

Here's where we went today for lunch.
Cool little 70 mile or so round trip run in the 32.

Pic taken from the deck over the river where they serve lunch.

Many Sweetie points gained....

 

My fellow Roadster owner.......HotRodPrimer took this photo of the MRS. and I on one of our ROAD TRIPS.

He and his MRS. were road tripping in their 32 Roadster too.




Check out the speedometer in HotRodPrimer's 32.

If you are not driving them.......there are just junk in the shed!!!




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I`m from Norway ! Like 1 hour from Sweden !! I have a Brook`body , and a Friend of mine bought the "Reeprosteel" body .The Swedish body is in need of a LOT of Work , but my Brook will need very litle woork to be completed ( 10 Days of work , and you have a NEAT piece !!! . My friend who bought the Swedish "kit" Is Using my "Brook" - parts to figger out what his Parts should look like !!!!
You will get what you pay for!!!!

 

have two Brookville bodies, one ***embled and one un***embled. I bought the un***embled one when it was taking so long to get one of their production bodies ( the wait was 2 yrs when they first came out). I thought that by having an un***embled one my car would be done sooner, and from watching them go together at Brookville I knew with careful work we could ***emble one here.
As with all good plans, I didn't have the time to ***emble mine before my production body was finished ( I never canceled my ***embled body when I got the un***embled one because at that time the wait was still over 1 1/2 years and people were paying a $1000 premium to get bodies if they didn't have to wait.
SOOOOOOOOOOO! After all this time I still have an un***embled one and a factory ***embled one waiting for attemtion. In the meantime, I've managed to build my '32 frame jig (off origional Henry Ford '32 blueprints) and I have a finished frame with '33-'48 style X member with the X member located to take a 700R 4 and any other trans known to man. Most all the production '32 frames on the market with the small tube crossmembers and no X bracing can be twisted be two people putting a tortional motion to the frame. Just think what happens to a fibergl*** body with that as a foundation, and a steel body will flex and crack in short order also. I think the only reason they get away with producing such **** is that these cars, for the most part, don't get driven very far and by the time problems show up the manufacturer simply doesn't give a damn about the customers problems. As long as I'm on my soap box I'll mention that HotRodDrummer's dad and he run Ionia Hot Rod Shop build the best looking nostalgia frame and by far the strongest i've ever seen, thiers doesn't flex. You can get ahold of them at 616-527-6051. I don't care whether anyone does or not, I'm just p***ing on information that I know would be helpful to someone who can't build a frame themselves and wants the best. It might cost a little more but isn't that usually the case when talking quality? The last time I checked a Lexus cost more than an Nova.
Damn, this is sounding like a rant and I didn't mean it to so we'll let this be it for now. As Germ would say:

Love,
Frank

 

Fab32, you've got a good point on the frame stiffness bit.

When I look at some of the frames pictured in the mag ads there's not a whole lot tying one side to the other.

My 32's Deuce Factory frame - with DF style crossmembers moved back 3" as compared to a SBC install - looked to be fairly solid and twist resistant.
Regardless, I added a 2 x 3" x .120 wall crossmember for the roll bar laterals and place for the seat belt connections. Welded in.
There's another bolt in 1 1/2" x .120 wall crossmember that bolts in. Used to hang the tailpipes on.
(The crossmember move back was done for the 455 Buick and T-400 install.)

It is quite stiff and there is no great degree of twisting or doors popping open when entering driveways at an angle.
In fact, you can't feel much movement at all between door and body when doing the driveway bit.

On my 31 on 32 rails roadster, I wanted a very stiff frame since it was destined for the dry lakes.
The crossmembers in that are 1 x 2" x .120 wall for the trans mount - with bolt-in dropout.
There are upper and lower crossmembers running transversely across the frame.
There are also 1 x 2" x .120 wall legs that go front and back of the crossmembers at an angle forming an X of sorts.
Behind the shorter rear X legs is a 1 x 2" x .120 wall crossmember as well as a 2 x 3" x .120 wall crossmember right behind that incorporates an oval driveshaft loop as part of the crossmember and these crossmembers run transversely.
On the back of this crossmember is the Chris Alston Ch***is Works 4-link with it's 1 1/4" bars.
The rear legs of the X also are cut at two angles with one side being welded to the frame and the other to the 2 x 3" crossmember.
The frame is boxed with .120 as well.

There's some additional pieces in there as well, but all in all it's going to be one stiff frame.

The original thinking being I didn't want engine torque twisting it and creating a steering input.
Now, with the 31 slated for street use there shouldn't be any problems with frame twist.

And now that I've typed it all out, I found a pic of the 31's bare frame.

 

Just in case you're wondering what that one piece of 1 x 2" just behind the trans crossmembers and welded to the rear X legs is, it's where the forward half oval 1 x 2" driveshaft loop is hung.
The half loop is not installed in this pic.

 

Just a side note...the family at Brookville bought more than one car to take measurements from when tooling up to do their body parts....none of the bodys had the same measurements, so Ray and Kenny averaged the specs.

If you ever get a chance to visit their facility, do it...you will be impressed (if you are a true car nut)

 

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would just add my question to this one.



I ordered a 32 body from Brookville with stock doors with the beads around the hinges, trunk, stock floor with the seat riser, cowl vent and steel front floor. Brookville is pushing me to add the deck former to it. I want the seat upholstery rolled over the top on the back and want to run a top that can be removed if I wish. Has anyone ordered a body without the deck former or does anyone have any pics of a stock body to compare it to? Of course I want the body to look as much like a Henry as possible but don’t want to have to cut up this area after I get it do to making the wrong choice.​

 

Doane Spencer roadster does not look too bad with a 3/window styled top ,Actually a 34 top but close..

 

I have ***embled several Brookville deuce bodies and all of our customers have been very happy. We add extra bracing. I now have a local body shop do the work. I have used a tack strip from Labron Bonney and with a little fitting it worked fine. couldn't tell it wasn't original style when it was covered with upholstery. Also have done 1 deuce roadster PU and it was a good piece. We like ***embling the bodies on the ch***is as we can keep better control of the gaps.

 

rod bods is the way to go fit and finish is great, and the owners are noce met them a shows a few times , there real people. rod bods is the best

 

Thought you guy's might get a kick out of this, I have had this for over 30 years, gave a copy to brookville when they were building the dies,...... this is a actual Ford blueprint.

you can see the recess for the wood tackstrip. this is only a portion of the print that is 3 X 7 feet.

 

I sure like mine

I plan on putting a folding top on it too.

 

Well,......
I was going to let it go at that, but I think out of the company's making steel Deuce roadster bodies, Brookville is the best and closest to Ford (IMO), I am finishing up the ch***is for the Louie Shell roadster that a friend of mine owns, he also just finished a brookville deuce, when they were side by side the bodies were like twins ( except for the recess for the wood tack strip, and a small dip and slightly miss shaped line in the "above the deck pannel" ), I coulden't see any problem with the cowl top, but that's not to say there wasen't one,... that was the pannel they had the most trouble with.
At the same time there was a Rod Bods body going together as a car at Frank's Antique in Birch Run,... the lines were not crisp, a little low and a little washed out. now remember this is all just my opinion.


This is the body for the Louie Schell Deuce, if you look close you can see the recess for the tack strip and the Auburn dash.


This is the Brookville car on a Ford frame with brookville rear fenders, the body took a honest 10 hours of prep time ( mostly prime and block ) the front fenders sold by brookville but built by Funk were another story, the fenders didn't fit at the runningboards, I had to cut off the rear of the fenders and add a pie cut section, they were tight at the frame but off by about 5/16" at the outer edge. I hope this helps.

 

So did you get the deck former or not?

 

it'd be interesting to know how the actual bodies compared to the blueprints dimensions.

i work in a toolroom that makes some stamping dies, no sheetmetal and nothing this large, we do small Ti parts, difficult in a whole other way, but my point is, i love reading about these bodies, and even the other steel repop bodies popping up, camaros, 57 chevy etc. it's amazing the technology available to these companies to engineer and build the dies to repop these. oddly enough, much of the thanks go to downturns in the economy, OEM suppliers invest fortunes into the latest cutting edge measuring and manufacturing machines, only to have the demand from the automakers dry up and go overseas, leaving very expensive machines sitting, begging for work, discounting machine rates to the point it becomes affordable to make such low volume parts.

what really amazes me more though, than the effort going into repopping these bodies, is the effort that went into them back in the 30s. it had to take literally hundreds of man hours to create each of the major dies for the 32 fords. back then it had to be accomplished by manual machining, roughing it to the approximate shape, then countless hours of hand filing, checking, more filing, on and on, then once it's close, hand lapping and polishing with progressivly finer grits until it's to the final shape. now it's a few hours of keyboarding and then let the CNC machine do all the dirty work. it's bad enough now when an engineer makes a mistake, and we in the shop get pissy cause we wasted a day of machine time, i couldn't imagine how pissed a toolmaker in 1931 would feel when told he has to remake a die that he just spent a month on! close to print? close enough then!

 

So I went to all of this trouble to type up a cool lil opinion of where I stood on this subject & it just went away, Don't cha just love these writing boxes?????
I have a 1/2 real 1/2 Brookville 32 Roadster. I think it's ***s & is the next best thing next to sliced bread! I admire Ray Kenny & Chuck for taking the chance to produce this body and giving us as Hot Rodders an alternative to gl*** as well as other metal constructed versions of the deuce.
Mine was built from the doors back by them, I ordered up a body @ the 2k2 LARS, I put a small down as required, within the month they had the balance, Since I had bought the gennie cowl w/vent retained(which was meticulously metal finished inside & out) through a mutual friend, it was sent straight the Brookville along with a pair of good but unmatching doors.(they went back) I had #366 ***igned to be delivered by LARS 2k3. but since they weren't building a Brookville body but merely attatching their doors on back to this cowl I forgave the #, I thought-Cool! It will move the delivery date up (which it did by 6mos) I had opted to not have the deck former option on the rear of my p***enger compartment, Well the back of the body was already now a part of the front & I said "what the hey?" they sent the tack strip along with it, as well as a 2"chopped windsheild frame & posts, a metal floor which I ended up going with a original style wood one.

This body has been on 2 different original ch***is and on both of them it fit just right! The deck former option doesn't bother me all that much, In fact I think that it cures that lil inherent cracking problen that devleopes there.
Would I buy another one=Hell yes! in a heart beat! I wish that I could afford the 3W That is just making its way out the doors! To me that ****er is "spot on!"
I am proud to run our companies name on the decklid and am extremely proud that Tom Fritz did not 1 but 2 paintings of this car.(see current Hop Up inside cover) & that bought Bob Drake bought the rights to use one of those paintings on his future catalog cover.

These cars are made to be having fun! That's precisely what I'm doing with my Cyclone 50/50 special! "Havin Fun As Usual".

 

Is this still the way the bodies are delivered?

 

I HAVE A SWEDISH BODY. IT CAME ***EMBLED FROM WWW.JOCAR.SE AND I HAVE TO SAY IT FITS THE STOCK CH***IS PERFECT. THE DOORS OPENS LIKE A NEW CAR.
I'M A HAPPY OWNER
PALLE

 

I work in a Hot Rod shop and we have used several Brookville bodies with much success and they are the closest to original, If I had to pick a fault it would be the lazy body bead, not as sharp as a genie body and we always add a body support from side to side to eliminate the door bounce when you close it, but we add that to the genie bodies also. You can get the body with or without the rear wood.

 

I done two brookville bodys one is on the cover of the current Street rodder the other is waiting for a photo shoot with rod and custom . They both needed a ton of work. The Ionia hot rod shop I had to cut throught the door jam in the door and quarter panel and move the them both out about 3/8ths of an inch because quarter panel was flat at the top as was the door. The doors on both cars had to be hammered out so far to line up with the quarter panels that I had to reweld them to the door frames. There are flat spots behind both door hinges and on the p***enger side in the wheel opening reveal there is a big dip also there are low spots around the cowl vent. Thats the big stuff the small stuff is the the general body work. With that said its still a nice clean piece of steel. Ps the 28/29s Ive seen are even worse. Pat

 

have built 2 so far, minor differences, best bang for your buck if you want a duece roadster, almost like cheating...

 

When I picked up my 30-31 roadster at the Brookville factory, I saw a few 32 primered bodies awaiting delivery with names of the new owners chaulked on them.These were well known builders such as Brizio. Thats good enough for me. If I remember correctly a 32 price was $11,200 & a 30-31 was $5,800. Greg

 

If you get it with the primer plan on having the whole thing stripped. Their primer is **** or they just don't prep the metal. It came off with some masking tape. I think you can get it in plain steel.